j_anna

All I can offer are a few quick remarks. I realized about 2 or 3 paragraphs in that I had no idea what your research question is. I don't think you ever articulate one. You devote way too much space to describing a program you went on -- that isn't really something YOU did, it's someone else's thing that made a big impact on you. It's fine to mention it, but one sentence is enough. In the end I'm not convinced you need to be in a PhD program to meet the goals you describe here -- it actually sounds like you should be employed in afterschool program work of some kind. You come across as interested in people and work, but not research. My advice is that you need to articulate a research project immediately in the first paragraph, then in the next section establish that you are the best person on the planet to do that research (including the ACADEMIC and life experiences, with an emphasis on your immersion in and engagement with the extant research), then in last section establish that the school you're applying to is the best place for you to do your research. I think you could pull it together in an afternoon if time is an issue.

I made this switch and it has been fine. I would advise brushing up on your statistics, you'll need to be able to use quant methods if you want to make the switch work. That will actually be a benefit to you in your new program because you'll be one of the few of your peers who is actually trained in both (I found the qual training to be pathetic compared to what we get in anth which made me glad I did my MA there first)... I do qualitative (method for my dissertation) and survey (work for a center at my university) primarily now that I am in my dissertation phase- but I have been an RA doing quantitative analysis too- I definitely learned more quant skills in my soc department, however. Best of luck if you make the switch. Feel free to DM me if you have more questions! 

Hi! My scores were 162V/154Q/5.5AW. I also applied to NYU and Penn. I haven't heard anything from NYU yet, but I got an interview with Penn (which went horribly but that's another story). I don't think a lot of weight is given to GRE scores, especially in the humanities and some of the social sciences. I saw another user on here say that they are mainly used for screening apps. 

Finalist for Turkish! I'm very excited. Is anyone else going to Bursa?